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Friday
26Jun2009

Michael Jackson Jokes Removed from 'Brüno'

DateFriday, June 26, 2009 at 2:20PM
Though there will come a time when we will see it, the producers of Brüno have hurriedly edited out a sketch from the Sacha Baron Cohen film related to Michael Jackson. The scene was removed hours before the film's Los Angeles premiere last night.

Perhaps you've seen or heard about the footage in question, in which Brüno interviews LaToya Jackson and the subject of the King of Pop comes up, unflatteringly. The Hollywood Reporter tells us exactly where the missing sequence is, between the infamous Paula Abdul interview and a scene involving the focus group screening Brüno's faked reality show.

Said director Larry Charles following the premiere, "We decided to take it out for tonight, and we'll reassess before the release whether to keep it out." The film is only two weeks away, and while I don't pretend to know how many prints of the film exist at the moment, I bet it's more than one. So, that edit would need to be made multiple times, and not for free.

On the flip side, is the Brüno audience really going to be undone by a Michael Jackson joke made when the controversial singer was still alive? It's not as if Cohen stuck a camera in LaToya's face yesterday; that's CNN's job. So my guess is this was a one-night deal done for the industry crowd that piled into the premiere.

It's nice, I suppose, that Universal would consider the edit, especially since they've already pared this movie down from an initial NC-17 rating, but I have a hunch it will be back in there when the movie shows up on July 10th.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

Bruno is going too suck. Borat was a hilariously genius fluke. This seems way more fake and cheap and less intelligent.

Friday, June 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterZack Solomon

This decision is a reason I can appreciate Cohen, because he's not just trying to get attention. I think it is a smart edit, given how the comedy is supposed to blur the lines of "reality." While not in and of itself offensive, Jackson references would certainly divert the viewer's concious attention away from the movie, so it's also a smart business decision.

Friday, June 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

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